Me: … And that’s how you derive this differential function.
Ben: I would probably have worked it out if I had enough time.
Me: You’re probably right.
Ben: I’m definitely right.
Me, smiling: Definitely.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
A joke for Lent
An Irishman moves into a tiny village in rural Ireland. He walks into the local pub, orders three drinks, drinks them, and then leaves the pub. And every evening he repeats this procedure.
Soon the entire village is talking about this. Finally, the bar tender asks, “I don’t mean to pry, but we were wondering why you order three pints each time you come in.”
The man says, “You see, I have two brothers - one in America and one in Australia. We promised that each time we have a drink, we’d order an extra two pints as a way of keeping up with each other.”
But one day, the man came into the pub and orders only two pints. The news spreads and the next evening the bar tender tells the man, “I want to offer our condolences on the death of your brother.”
The man says, “No, my brothers are alive and well, thanks be”. So the bar tender asks, “Then what is it with the two pints?”
“Well” says the man, “One pint is for Mick and one is for Dan. But as for meself, I’m giving up drink for Lent.”
Soon the entire village is talking about this. Finally, the bar tender asks, “I don’t mean to pry, but we were wondering why you order three pints each time you come in.”
The man says, “You see, I have two brothers - one in America and one in Australia. We promised that each time we have a drink, we’d order an extra two pints as a way of keeping up with each other.”
But one day, the man came into the pub and orders only two pints. The news spreads and the next evening the bar tender tells the man, “I want to offer our condolences on the death of your brother.”
The man says, “No, my brothers are alive and well, thanks be”. So the bar tender asks, “Then what is it with the two pints?”
“Well” says the man, “One pint is for Mick and one is for Dan. But as for meself, I’m giving up drink for Lent.”
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Catholicism and complexity
Traditional Catholic social teaching recognised the complexity of human affairs. An approach not taught these days.
First case. A young man chortling about the intervention in Libya. ”Gaddafi’s a tyrant and we’ve got to get rid of him”. So simple!
Let's look at the just war criteria. They require a just objective, legitimate authority, a force proportionate to the objective, and a reasonable chance of success.
But the second Gulf War showed the insuperable problems in setting up shining new democracies in the Middle East. Whatever our dreams, there’s no reasonable chance of success in Libya and the adventure is immoral.
Second case. The youth spokeswoman in the Canberra-Goulburn archdiocese wants men to be jailed if they patronize prostitutes. This is on the basis of “gender equality”.
Does she also want to criminalize adultery? Or telling dirty jokes? Or taking the Lord’s name in vain?
They tried all this in Calvin’s Geneva. But for a Catholic perspective, turn to St Augustine, who concluded that - though prostitution is immoral - the State should not try and outlaw it.
First case. A young man chortling about the intervention in Libya. ”Gaddafi’s a tyrant and we’ve got to get rid of him”. So simple!
Let's look at the just war criteria. They require a just objective, legitimate authority, a force proportionate to the objective, and a reasonable chance of success.
But the second Gulf War showed the insuperable problems in setting up shining new democracies in the Middle East. Whatever our dreams, there’s no reasonable chance of success in Libya and the adventure is immoral.
Second case. The youth spokeswoman in the Canberra-Goulburn archdiocese wants men to be jailed if they patronize prostitutes. This is on the basis of “gender equality”.
Does she also want to criminalize adultery? Or telling dirty jokes? Or taking the Lord’s name in vain?
They tried all this in Calvin’s Geneva. But for a Catholic perspective, turn to St Augustine, who concluded that - though prostitution is immoral - the State should not try and outlaw it.
Monday, March 7, 2011
St Thomas Aquinas
March 7 is the feast of St Thomas Aquinas in the traditional calendar (it's January 28 in the new calendar).
Let's be blunt. St Thomas can appear a bit off-putting at first sight. The man who produced the monumental Summa Theologica. A man raised above earthly passions, always calm and logical. Admirable, of course, but not attractive.
Perhaps we can seek to humanize him. Born of an aristocratic family of knights in the middle of the middle ages, he was a classic absent minded professor. Invited to a feast by the king, he sat unmoved through the glittering occasion, the exquisite food, beautiful music, breathtaking jugglers, magnificent robes … Ignoring these delights, he meditated on a knotty philosophical problem until he had worked it out.
(The pattern persists, of course. A scientist sat silent all through a dinner with distinguished foreign guests. Afterwards, washing the dishes with his wife, he announced the secret. “I have solved the heat transfer problem!” And went on to win a Nobel Prize.)
All this is true but it’s not the whole truth. The central truth about today's saint is that he was also a passionate man of prayer. Yes, during the day he used his left brain to meditate on the Faith. And in the evening, he would pray passionately about these truths into the early morning. A great saint, his sole desire was to know and follow Christ.
St Thomas, pray for us.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Further on the Middle East
Let's take a conservative and natural law approach to the current events in the Middle East.
First, let's not get swept along with euphoria about people power etc. Sure, democracy is a good system: it reflects human dignity by giving a measure of participation in the government, and it provides a feedback system that operates in a legal and non-violent manner. But let's remember that there's no intrinsic right to democracy (consider, for example, the non-democratic government of St Louis IX). And recall that the merits of a democracy depend on the maturity of the governed to take informed and responsible decisions.
Second, let's not expect the same outcome in each middle eastern country. Pan-islamic rhetoric hasn't translated to a lasting pan-islamic state because different communities and countries have their own histories and cultures. The likelihood is that the "people power" revolutions will produce different outcomes, perhaps with a repressive dictatorship in one, a somewhat democracy in another, and an islamic state in a third.
As the servant of God, G K Chesterton wrote, "human beings ... never have from the beginning of the world done what the wise men have seen to be inevitable".
And, remember Ps 121/122:6, which bids us pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Sure, this refers primarily to the Church. But the Catholic approach is to embrace all aspects of Scripture, and of reality, and so we are bidden to pray for the earthly Jerusalem also.
One final point. Consider Colonel Gaddafi's humility. How come he or the Revolutionary Command Council didn't upgrade him to General or Field Marshal? I guess it's too late now.
First, let's not get swept along with euphoria about people power etc. Sure, democracy is a good system: it reflects human dignity by giving a measure of participation in the government, and it provides a feedback system that operates in a legal and non-violent manner. But let's remember that there's no intrinsic right to democracy (consider, for example, the non-democratic government of St Louis IX). And recall that the merits of a democracy depend on the maturity of the governed to take informed and responsible decisions.
Second, let's not expect the same outcome in each middle eastern country. Pan-islamic rhetoric hasn't translated to a lasting pan-islamic state because different communities and countries have their own histories and cultures. The likelihood is that the "people power" revolutions will produce different outcomes, perhaps with a repressive dictatorship in one, a somewhat democracy in another, and an islamic state in a third.
As the servant of God, G K Chesterton wrote, "human beings ... never have from the beginning of the world done what the wise men have seen to be inevitable".
And, remember Ps 121/122:6, which bids us pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Sure, this refers primarily to the Church. But the Catholic approach is to embrace all aspects of Scripture, and of reality, and so we are bidden to pray for the earthly Jerusalem also.
One final point. Consider Colonel Gaddafi's humility. How come he or the Revolutionary Command Council didn't upgrade him to General or Field Marshal? I guess it's too late now.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Middle East
From <a href="http://www.breakfastpolitics.com/index/copt-this.html">Michael Danby MP</a>. Mr Danby, who is Jewish, is a Labor member of the Australian Parliament:
"Counter intuitively to the perverse BBC/Guardian/Fairfax worldview about the Middle East, only Israel has seen the number of Christians increase from 34,000 in 1948 to 151,700 (according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics Report of 2010). Where is World Vision, Care or the Uniting Church, off on the same tangent with Israel-obsessed radicals of the Middle East Council of Christians?"
And, by the way, let’s remember to do as Sacred Scripture bids us and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 121/122:6).
"Counter intuitively to the perverse BBC/Guardian/Fairfax worldview about the Middle East, only Israel has seen the number of Christians increase from 34,000 in 1948 to 151,700 (according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics Report of 2010). Where is World Vision, Care or the Uniting Church, off on the same tangent with Israel-obsessed radicals of the Middle East Council of Christians?"
And, by the way, let’s remember to do as Sacred Scripture bids us and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 121/122:6).
Monday, February 7, 2011
Imperfect surroundings
James Deaton asks whether knowledge workers "need ideal conditions to do great work?” He cites the views of many eminent scientists who believe that an “ideal situation” is actually detrimental.
Deaton's take is that “if you are not making progress where you are, believing better conditions are all that is holding you back is a convenient substitute for doing the actual work".
There are a lot of factors, of course. For example, perfect surroundings can create a pressure to think only great thoughts or write only perfect prose, pressures which are in fact turn counter-productive.
Deaton's take is that “if you are not making progress where you are, believing better conditions are all that is holding you back is a convenient substitute for doing the actual work".
There are a lot of factors, of course. For example, perfect surroundings can create a pressure to think only great thoughts or write only perfect prose, pressures which are in fact turn counter-productive.
The piece is worth reading. And perhaps a good corrective for people (like me) who are inclined to think that holiness would be easy if things were better.
If we were in a monastery, or had better health, or weren't emeshed in family issues. But that it’s all a bit too much as things are …
If we were in a monastery, or had better health, or weren't emeshed in family issues. But that it’s all a bit too much as things are …
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